I'm glad you love your guitar. I am actually quite glad to hear that they play very well. I didn't mean to come off as harsh as i did. But I guess you can put me firmly in the I'll relic my guitar on my own by accident club.

One things for certain, if you own a Strat you can be assured its a fine guitar. this even goes for the much denigrated CBS era Strats. People look at them as a bit inferior, but I still prefer em to almost anything else put out at the same time.

Everyone to their own - no one is right or wrong.

Personally I can totally see both sides of the argument

1. of letting them get beat up naturally, but that could be cause I can't afford one.

2. I have played some relics in our local stores and been blown away by the feel and playability.

Alainlefrance - your photos are amazing, always had a thing for the Marilyn Monroe guitar and your camera shows the fantastic figuring on the neck.

That 62 has to be the cleanest I've ever seen. WOW!!

Well said, Twelvebar.

The Stratocaster has always been a professional level guitar.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

i say no.. at first tho i really wanted a relic guitar too but wen u think about it its better wen those battle scars on ur guitar come natural from years of playing and not from tools used to make relics

i personally would rather "Relic" my own guitar by playing it for years to come .... to me that is a real Relic ... having a fender standing the test of time and playing it makes it "Relic" so there is no need to have someone age your guitar or have it aged when you should just play it .... GOOD LUCK to Everyone in the Giveaway ... Yummy

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http://myspace.com/DavidsDemo <> http://myspace.com/SongwritersSingles

Of Course it's all preference and opinion, But if you have a nice Fender that's older, but not yet Vintage, I think it would be a big mistake to "Relic" it. In the early to mid '90's Interior Decorating was on a big White Washing Fad. People imediately began whitewashing all their "old" furniture. Around 1994 the fad had passed and people were trying to un-White Wash there nice "old" furniture, but no matter what you do do that White-Washed Chipendale Armoire its only worth a fraction of what it would have been worth if it had been original.

I can see the same senario playing out in the guitar collectors world, in 15 years we'll be hearing, "That '82 Strat would be worth $25,000 if it showed it's natural wear, but at some point in it's history it was belt sanded and stabbed with a screwdriver, so it's only worth $1500 if it plays well. While this Custom Shop 'Relic' from 2009 is worth $25,00 'cause it's supposed to look like that."

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"Persistence Is The Father Of Invention"
-Crazy Old Man In Training

Hey Time Machine! I don't doubt that you have yourself a gem of a guitar, and if you notice I didn't discredit the relics at all, I just said I PREFER to put my own scars om my guitars! You obviously have the wherewithal to buy a guitar of that caliber, so I'm not "playa-hatin'" on you for it! If I HAD that kind of money maybe I would buy me one, or maybe not, that's one of the best parts of living in America, freedom of CHOICE! I applaud you in your choice of musical instruments though, I can only DREAM what she must sound like though a well seasoned & warmed up amp!..keep on rocking dude!

Hey OrvilleOwner.....beautiful.....just freakin' BEAUTIFUL! I'll bet you're more comfortable with these babies than the most sought after 5 grand highly decorated with glowing penguin skulls, heat of the moment, current guitar out there! I have a Strat and it's not anywhere near THAT state, but if / when it gets there...I'll love it all the more!

I've owned those two scarred beauties (the brown and black ones) a LONG time, Eddie. Thanks for the comments.

In cased you missed what I wrote, the charred beauty was a Hendrix guitar, not one of mine.

Cheers

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I'll be dreaming of these two the next time I strap on my Squier!!!!

The reason for buying a beat up looking guitar is so you'll be worry-free about messing up that perfect finish, but the relics cost more than new so I really don't see why anyone would be interested in them. To each their own I guess, and if you got the money to throw around go for it.

But down the road will the relic and road worn guitars be judged by how close they are to the original wear pattern? seems likely, and kinda silly to me.

But maybe people will become even more paranoid about affecting the wear pattern. it seems they'd be easier to extend the wear on, than my 15 year old strat which seems to be bulletproof ( I have mixed feelings about that too,)

i try to take put excellent care of my strat and the flip side to my statement about a worn guitar telling a story, is my guitar has had a few 'incidents' but looks almost pristine, and even though it has seen a lot of use, doesn't look as lived in as an older strat would have after the same 15 year period.